OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Chapter Twelve
Sleepover
That night, Esmerelda and Sybil sneaked into Ethel's room both in their pyjamas and dressing gowns with their hair down, Ethel smiled as they all sat on her bed to talk, ready to get their sleepover started.
"HB should be asleep by now" Sybil said as she spoke to her sisters. Ethel nodded thinking they should be safe, it was late so HB would of finished her rounds by now.
"Did you manage to get any food from the kitchen?" Esmerelda asked, knowing her sisters had being planning on getting some midnight snacks. Ethel nodded and opened the draw on her bedside table, showing a pile of food in there.
"It is probably gross as Miss Tapioca made it, but you know how hard it is to find decent food around here" Ethel said as she put the food on the bed so they could share it.
"So how are things Esmie?" Sybil asked her eldest sister.
"They are getting better, I am getting more used to being powerless" Esmerelda replied. Ethel looked down sadly and sighed and Sybil fell silent.
"I am such an idiot, why did I ever think tricking you with Agatha was a smart idea?" Ethel asked aloud, knowing her sisters should not have forgave her for it, it was an evil thing for her to have done.
"You didn't think beforehand Ethie, we have spoken about this, I don't want you to feel bad about it, I know Agatha got into your head and made you think you were doing the right thing" Esmerelda replied, only blaming Agatha now, she knew how to play games so she was able to trick Ethel into thinking taking Esmerelda's powers was a good thing.
"I will always feel bad" Ethel said looking at her bed. Esmerelda knew that she couldn't do anything to assure Ethel or fix her self-guilt, apart from tell her she forgave her.
"Please don't be sad Ethie, I am just glad I got to visit you two, are you looking forward to the performance?" Esmerelda asked, wondering if they were actually happy about it or still dreading it like they had being a few weeks ago.
"I am so nervous, it makes my stomach hurt when I think about it" Sybil admitted, her nerves had really kicked in over the last few hours. She had being okay until it started to get closer.
"Everyone gets nervous before a perfomance Sybie that is normal, you will be fine once it comes to it" Esmerelda told her putting her arm around her and cuddling her.
"Are you nervous Ethel?" Sybil asked her sister and Ethel nodded and then sighed.
"I have a horrible feeling something is going to go wrong like always" Ethel replied explaining her fears before sighing and carrying on talking "I don't know why I am bothering anyway, no matter if I pull of my dragon transformation, Mildred will get all the credit anyway, she always does" Ethel replied, feeling under the weather right now and starting to question why she should try when no-one ever cared. She had given up trying to impress people because she had finally come to the conclusion her best was never good enough.
"That isn't true Ethel" Esmerelda told her. She honestly thought her sister had all this in her head, Mildred got in just as much trouble as her, the only real difference between their experiences was Mildred just got lucky.
"Oh yeah? How about the spelling bee last year? I am not saying that Mildred did not help us win, and that she was not the one to get the final question right, but I got the rest of the questions right, and yet what happened when we went in the classroom? Everyone cheered for Mildred, no-one gave a stuff about me or the part I had played in it, not one person said well done, it was like I didn't even exist or matter, and then she goes and breaks the trophy through her clumsiness, that is just another one of my dreams she managed to take and shatter" Ethel replied, raising her voice a little as she spoke, in a tone full of bitterness. Esmerelda and Sybil looked at each other. They knew it had being wrong of no-one to cheer for Ethel but the sad reality was there was nothing they could do to change that.
"They were wrong, they should have gave you credit too, but that won't happen tomorrow Ethel and if it does, I will be cheering for you, it is not going to go sour for you this time" Esmerelda told Ethel trying to make her feel better. She would always be cheering for Ethel, even if something did go wrong.
"Thanks Esmie" Ethel said with a sigh. She was still upset, but at least she was feeling a little better now, at least this time she would have someone watching her who was not looking forward to her messing up.
"Don't be sad Ethie, sleepovers are meant to be fun, why don't we try to forget about the perfomance for tonight and just have fun, like old times?" Sybil suggested. Ethel looked at her and could not help but smile, she was right, this was the first quality time they had had together in months, she didn't want it to be a downer. She didn't want to talk about things that made them unhappy.
"I second that" Esmerelda said as she picked up a pastry looking thing from the bed and bit it only to spit it back out.
"Yep Miss Tapioca made that alright, that is so bad" Esmerelda said causing Ethel and Sybil to start to laugh.
"What is so funny?" Esmerelda asked smiling as her sisters laughed more, finding now they had started they couldn't stop. Esmerelda joined in but put her fingers to her lips, knowing HB was like a hawk and might hear them, but it did not stop her from laughing herself and trying to keep quiet.
"I can't stop" Sybil said giggling to herself and covering her mouth. The girls laughed for a few minutes before they finally started to stop and Esmerelda spoke.
"I missed this, I missed you two" Esmerelda told them, having become incredibly lonely at home, her sisters made everything more fun, being by herself and without magic was torture.
"Are mum and dad driving you nuts?" Sybil asked knowing how pushy and annoying their parents could be. Esmerelda nodded.
"It is worse, now that I am always home they make me attend all these stupid dinners with their friends, I don't know why because they don't talk to me when I am there" Esmerelda replied, hating them dinner parties so much. Her parents would speak to the other stuck up adults there and no-one glanced at her, so she was still trying to figure out what the point was.
"They are probably trying to make the family name good again, you know they said that it has being ruined after what happened last year" Ethel replied, knowing it had ruined their family name. Esmerelda sighed, she didn't care about the stupid family name, she just wanted them to leave her alone. She was down enough as it was without them two bugging her.
"Well I am just glad to get away for a bit, they are driving me nuts" Esmerelda replied. Sybil looked at her sister then, wearing a confused look as a thought entered her mind.
"How did you convince mum and dad to let you stay over?" Sybil asked looking at Esmerelda with wonderment, after all last time she had come she had to sneak out just to get to see her sisters for a few hours and Sybil wondered if she had sneaked out again.
"Yeah I was wondering that too" Ethel replied looking at Esmie equally as confused. The eldest blonde smirked and looked at her sisters.
"Well after mum nearly got Miss Cackle fired she didn't have much choice did she? She knows the Great Wizard is angry at her and he could punish or worse if she refused or started to make a fuss" Esmerelda replied and the two youngest nodded, realising it made sense. Ursulla Hallow knew now more than ever to stay on the good side of Miss Cackle and the Great Wizard after she had faked that petition and being fired from the magic council.
"At least you didn't have to run away this time" Ethel commented and Esmerelda nodded glad of that fact.
"Yes last time it was a nightmare getting out, I like it better when I can talk them around because they have gotten themselves into trouble, serves them right for being so stupid, you are a child Ethel but they are adults, they should know better" Esmerelda replied.
"Well I am glad because I miss spending time together" Sybil said and Ethel nodded but then smiled before she spoke.
"I missed it too...apart from maybe you nagging me" Ethel said. She was just messing, trying to lighten the mood a little. Esmerelda pulled an insulted face and grabbed a pillow hitting Ethel with it.
"Hey!" Ethel said grabbing another pillow and hitting her back. The sisters looked at each other and all grabbed pillows, having a pillow fight but quietly. HB would kill them if she found them.
"That was fun" Sybil said afterwards lying on the bed with her sisters and giggling.
"Yes it was…..but now I am tired" Ethel said feeling worn out after that.
"Me too" Esmerelda said.
"That was fun….just like old times" Sybil replied, having had a fantastic evening.
"Just like in the summer" Ethel said, but nothing more was said. The girls were exhausted as they had being up for hours and it was now late, and with good memories running through their mind they all fell into a deep sleep.